Afternoon tea conjures up innocent pleasures of years gone by. Nowadays it's more likely to be morning (or afternoon) coffee. I tend to think having a special afternoon tea (cream-tea) with lemon tea and freshly-made scones with home-made strawberry or raspberry jam and Cornish clotted cream, is more of middle-class and upper-class origin, rather than working-class British. I can't remember my mum and the neighbours stopping off for afternoon cream-tea. We didn't have the luxury of have servants/maids and there was too much to do for housewives in those days as it was.

Though, back in the 1960's etc, if guests came around to our house at any time (and in many homes in Britain), out would come the best china, the guests would be ushered into the front/best room (if the house had one) and out would come dainty little triangular sandwiches of pan bread (crusts cut-off) with cucumber or meat paste or crab or salmon spread or tinned red salmon or sliced virginia ham from the butcher (for special guests), dainty little fairy-cakes and buttered scone with jam and butter (or sometimes thick cream).

Having said that, there are plenty tea-rooms and little private-run cosy establishments in the UK (esp the countryside) who celebrate the classic English Afternoon Tea. I recall a nice garden tea garden at a hotel near Ledaig, Argyll. I think the owners were English.